Facing an enemy that exuded unprecedented ferocity, Ais trembled uncontrollably before her fear gave way to an incredible fighting spirit.
She tightly grasped the azure sword in her hand, its blade emitting a sharp luster, and rushed toward the Wyvern.
As she closed the distance, Ais dodged the claws that could have easily torn her apart at the last possible second, simultaneously slashing at the base of the Wyvern's wing and creating a small gap in its black scales.
The wound was insignificant on the dragon's five-meter-long body, but it roared in anger and turned to charge at Ais with even greater ferocity.
Noticing the Wyvern had lost all caution, Ais revealed a confident smile brimming with fighting spirit.
She turned and ran. When the dragon was less than ten meters behind her, she leaped onto a large boulder, spun around, and slashed at the stone with her sword.
Countless stone shards shot toward the Wyvern's only weak point..its eyes.
Caught off guard, the dragon subconsciously closed its eyes, slightly slowing its dive.
Now is the time!
Ais leaped into the air and brought her sword down with all her strength on the joint connecting the Wyvern's huge wing to its body.
The attack penetrated the dragon's scale defense, sending a spray of bright red blood across its wing.
The Wyvern lost its balance and, roaring, made an emergency landing on the ground.
Ignoring all else, Ais focused her attacks on the injured wing, intending to sever the Wyvern's means of flight.
When the dragon swiped at her with its claws, she would only dodge the vital spots by the smallest possible margin, ignoring any lesser injuries.
With every clash, sparks flew alongside a shower of dragon scale fragments and droplets of blood, making it impossible to tell whose was whose.
Just as Ais retreated again to avoid a fatal blow and launch another attack, the Wyvern suddenly turned with an agility that defied its massive size.
Its scaly tail whipped up a cyclone, sweeping away everything in its path.
Caught off guard, Ais's golden eyes widened. She could only hold her sword across her chest and brace for the immense impact, which felt like being hit by a battering ram.
The enormous force rendered all of her techniques useless. Her armor deformed and shattered, and she heard the sickening sound of her own bones twisting and breaking.
Blood spurted from her mouth as the girl's thin body was sent flying as easily as a fallen leaf.
"Cough, cough…"
When Ais came to her senses and struggled to raise her head, she found herself surrounded by a wall of fire, like a scene from hell.
The Wyvern looked down at her with its bright red, vertical pupils, and crimson flames began to condense in its mouth.
The light completely filled her vision, and the burning pain throughout her body sent a clear message of death.
Am I going to die here?
How could I... I still have unfinished business...
But... maybe I can finally be free...
In the red world created by the raging heat, everything before Ais, including herself, seemed to be slowly melting. Her consciousness grew hazy, and time slowed down.
Just as she slowly closed her eyes, waiting for the end—
The next moment, the clear ring of a sword cut through the rumbling noise, pierced the sorrow, anger, and despair, and reached the girl's heart.
It was like a cool breeze on a midsummer afternoon sweeping across a boundless grassland, blowing dazzling white clouds across a deep blue sky.
It dispelled the flames, quelled the chaos, healed her sorrow, suppressed the darkness, and pulled her consciousness back from the brink.
A sword light, like a sliver of moonlight, slid past, illuminating Ais's eyes.
She raised her head and took in the swift figure that moved like a moonbeam.
It was a swordsmanship completely different from her own and from any she had ever seen before.
No powerful aura, no sound, no brilliance.
Only a single, unassuming yet eye-catching streak of silver light.
But with just that one strike, the blade accurately pierced the Wyvern's eye and penetrated its skull.
The Wyvern roared violently in pain. The breath of fire that had been building up in its throat could not be released and instead exploded in its fanged mouth, blowing large holes in its palate and upper jaw as drops of magma fell to the ground.
The scene overlapped with a memory deep in Ais's mind: the sight of a man with the body of a mortal, using his superb swordsmanship to inflict such grievous pain on the Black Dragon that it was forced to flee in a panic.
"Father... Dad..."
In an instant, an inexplicable feeling ran through her body.
The fortress Ais had built for herself through bloody battles over the past year collapsed, revealing the little girl hidden under the mask of the "War Princess." Feelings of grievance and weakness surged forth, and the hot tears she thought had long since dried up blurred her vision.
Pulling his sword from the Wyvern's eye, Noah kicked with all his might, striking the dragon's gushing chest.
As he fell through the air, Noah used his momentum to spin and slash the Wyvern's chest again.
The sword strike completely shattered the Wyvern's already broken scales, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
But it wasn't just blood that gushed out—it was also the dragon's breath, which had been brewed to its limit and then forced back down its throat.
A chain of internal explosions ruptured the dragon's muscular torso, causing it to wail as blood and flesh flew everywhere.
By the time Noah landed in front of the blonde girl and lifted her by the scruff of her neck like a kitten, the Wyvern's body had expanded in mid-air before finally exploding completely.
Instantly, it was as if a sun had appeared in the cavern, scattering dazzling light.
A magical storm of light and fire swept over everything, cracking the walls and then melting the rock along those cracks until the entire cavern had been expanded from the inside out.
After the firestorm subsided, a pile of rubble shifted, and Noah poked his head out, looking around with lingering fear.
After confirming the danger was gone, Noah stood up from the rubble, still holding the blonde girl.
He felt for her pulse and, confirming she was still alive, breathed a sigh of relief.
He had just arrived in this world, his own injuries hadn't healed, and yet he'd run into this hellscape and risked his life.
For what? Wasn't it for this unfortunate child? If she died, wouldn't his efforts have been in vain?
"Kids these days are too reckless, aren't they? Seeing a dragon that huge, she didn't even try to run away and just charged right at it?"
That being said, Noah also knew that if the blonde girl hadn't attracted the Wyvern's attention, he wouldn't have been able to launch a successful sneak attack.
Although Noah hated being a kill-stealer, he had to admit that it felt pretty good.
Besides, it couldn't really be called a kill-steal, since the girl wasn't winning at all. He had completely saved her life.
Forget it, now's not the time to worry about this. I have to find a place to treat her injuries and my own.
However, Noah didn't have any healing skills, so his only option was to get back to the surface as quickly as possible.
But when he recalled the winding, forked paths he had taken on his way down, he felt a headache coming on.
Tsk, I didn't leave any markers. How long is it going to take to get back up?
Though it was embarrassing to admit, Noah had a terrible sense of direction. It wasn't a problem if he stayed in a city for a long time, but once he went out into the wilderness, he was basically guaranteed to get lost.
If that was the case in the wild, where he could at least see the sky to get his bearings, it was a hundred times worse in this cave, where he couldn't tell east from west, day from night.
Hopefully, I can get out before I bleed to death.
However, just as Noah took his first step, he felt something strange—the sound of magical power gathering, about to be released.
The source seemed to be just ahead, behind some ruins in the cavern. This explosion of magic didn't feel dangerous, however, so Noah simply watched as the ruins in front of him were blown apart.
"Ais!! Where are you?"
A green-clad figure appeared amidst the thick smoke. She was an elven woman with slender, pointed ears, long hair that shone like emeralds, and a stunning appearance.
She looked like a distraught mother who, after quarreling with her rebellious daughter, suddenly realized the child was lost and had rushed frantically into the dark night to find her.
The next second, her eyes met Noah's, and both of them fell silent.
Until—
"Father..."
The blonde girl in Noah's arms woke up at some point, then threw herself against his chest and burst into tears.
Noah's eyes suddenly widened.
Oh, for crying out loud! You little brat! Don't drag me into this!
When Riveria heard Ais call the silver-haired human "father," her eyes immediately sharpened.
She slowly tightened her grip on her beloved staff, Magna Alfs, ready to strike at any moment.
Although she was a mage, her staff was forged from Mithril and Holydite, making it stronger than the weapons of most first class adventurers.
Anyone who underestimated Riveria's close-combat ability would be in for a rude awakening.
After all, she wasn't that old... at least, still just a young woman by elven standards!
In any case, after years of traveling, Riveria had seen her fair share of darkness in the mortal world.
A simple and cute little girl like Ais was an easy target for scoundrels.
Noah could tell exactly what the green-haired elf was thinking from her glare, and he suddenly felt a wave of depression.
Although Noah had often been called a butcher, a devil, cold-blooded, and ruthless in the past, he had never been considered a pervert.
How should he put it? Being feared like a lion or a tiger was a completely different feeling from being despised like a cockroach or a slug.
Thinking of this, Noah couldn't help but pick the blonde girl off his chest with some exasperation, like she was a puppy, and look into her golden eyes, which were full of confusion.
This troublesome kid! I'm only seventeen years old! I'm still a kid myself! I've never even held a girl's hand, so isn't calling me 'dad' a bit much?
Although he believed a woman would only hinder the speed of his sword draw, Noah wasn't about to argue with a seriously injured, delirious little girl covered in blood.
"Hey, little one, I'm not your father. Wake up..."
After patting the girl's cheek, Noah turned her around to face the green-haired female elf, who only grew more alert and anxious because of his actions.
"Hey, look over here. Do you recognize this elf?"
After being shaken several times by Noah, the blonde girl finally opened her blood-blurred eyes in confusion and met Riveria's gaze.
Seeing Ais's miserable state, covered in blood and wounds, Riveria felt as if her heart was being stabbed by a knife.
Overwhelming regret, self-blame, and guilt washed over her, and her grip on her staff tightened.